Mortal
by peanut0565
Summary: With the Suit he was invinicible. Without it, he was as mortal as any other man. There was only one chance at this, because if they messed up and he lived... They would be killed, every last one of them.
1. Crash

Authors' Note: I own nothing you recognize.

--

Once he had his suit on they didn't stand a chance. He knew that well, after seeing the destruction of Gulmira, and various other places. Stark was good, very good in the suit. But without it, oh that was a whole different ball field. Without that gold and red suit he was on the same level as himself. Without the suit he was as mortal as any man could be.

That was the plan to take him down while he wasn't in the suit. Sweet and simple. Though it would be almost impossible to get him this way, it wasn't as nearly as hard as it would be by taking on Ironman in all his glory and that suit with all its little gadgets and weapons.

Sneaking into the mansion was out, his security system was the top of the line, probably better then any one else could buy. He designed it himself, of course. Taking him out at a press conference or anywhere else he appeared in public was a big no-no, all that exposure was not good. The best course of action would be while he was on his way to this and that in that black bentley. Make it look like an accident, and no one will suspect a thing.

Yes, the plan was set, now to get one of his little pawns who through their life away because he 'promised' them the good life, only after they proved themselves worthy of his cause. The great Tony Stark was going down this time, and staying down.

--

"Mr. Stark, Your reunion thing at MIT is coming up in August, they want an RSVP, yes or no?" Pepper asked, paraphrasing the messenge from the blackberry in her hand. Tony groaned unceremoniously.

"Thats like five months from now Miss Potts..." He huffed.

"I know, but they want to know..." Pepper returned.

"Let's just put it off until tomorrow." He was excellent at avoiding things such as this.

"How about lets focus on the task at hand, this art opening thing we're going to be arriving at in less then a twenty minutes." Tony said straightening his tie for a second as the car slowed down for the stop light.

"Um. Yes, the art opening..." She trailed off as her facial expression turned to that of a horrified one. That was the last thing Tony saw.

They had moved into the intersection as a large blue SUV plowed right into the side of the car, into Happy and Tony's side. Everything happened so fast, the SUV shoved the black bentley they were riding into the car next to them, and consquently into the car next to the other one. The momentum caused the two cars on Peppers' side of the vehicle to spin out of the way as they hit the curb and tipped over into the ditch. The black car turned over five times before ultimately landing on its roof at the bottom of the little hill into the grassy ditch. What was left of it looked like it was compacted and thrown into garbage disposal system that spit out small boxs of the condensed waste.

--

Happy was the first to come around. He opened his eyes to find himself hanging upside down in the car, his head pointed towards the ground. He groaned at the headache and other bruises from the seatbelt he was wearing, holding him up. It dawned on him that both his passengers weren't wearing seatbelts as he quickly jerked his head and to view the back of the vehicle. It was then he also noticed he had a severe case of whiplash going on, and at least a minor concussion.

The sight he was met with was horrid, Miss Potts, Mr. Stark's personal assistant was leaning against the frame work of the door, her head against her chest so he couldn't see her face, but she appeared to be unconcious. Her arms were flaired in ackward positions, one of her legs was underneath her and the other was outstretched. The ankle looked horribly bruised, possibly broken.

"Miss Potts!" He tried to get her attention. "Pepper." He tried the nickname that Tony had given Pepper when he hired her.

--

He opened his eyes at the sound of Happy's voice, calling for Pepper. He groaned, and apparently it was loud enough for Happy Hogan to hear him.

"Mr. Stark!" His voice was unbearably loud. He would have covered his ears if he could move, but he seemed to be pinned in place by the surrounding area.

"What..." He tried to speak but his voice was muffled by whatever his face was leaning against. He tried to lift his head a little. He saw Pepper infront of him, out cold, and quite possibly badly hurt. "...Shit." He groaned resting his head on the metal roof once again. He couldn't do a damn thing except for fall unconcious again.

--

She awoke to a dull throb in the back of her head and a sharp pain in her right ankle. She then heard the sirens blaring loudly near by, as it finally came back to her as of what had happened she panicked, opening her eyes to see the trashed insides of a car as the EMTs were pulling Happy out of the drivers' side. The door was pried off of that side as they were taking the driver out. He was having a fit, saying something along the lines of he wasn't in the worst condition of the three and he could stand sitting upside down while they got his good friends out.

Happy was Tony's driver and bodyguard, so of course he would put Tony's life above his. It was then that Pepper turned her attention away from Happy arguing with the two EMTs that were pulling him out of the wreck to where Tony had been sitting, across from her.

All she could see was darkness at this point, no sign of life, just a heap of wreckage that use to be a very expensive car. It wasn't until closer inspection that she saw the top of his head, he was pinned between the roof and the crushed in seat. She couldn't tell if he was even breathing at this point.

"Tony." She called to him, and went to reach for him when an ache in her side forced her to stop. The other EMTs noticed she was awake and peered through the rear window at her.

"Don't try to move, we are getting the jaws of life in here to get you two out." He assured her. She half wondered how many there were around here.

--

Happy watched from the sidelines as the one EMT was stitching up his forehead. The car was completely demolished, especially after the jaws of life tool got to it. Pepper was the first one to be pulled out. She was put into a stretcher and moved to the back of the ambulence where Happy was currently sitting. She was awake.

"Hey." He greeted her with a weak smile.

"Hey." They had a mutual bond with each other, a good friendship with the underlining fact that they both worked for Mr. Stark.

"Have they got Tony out yet?" She asked him, her voice filled with concern. Happy looked up as they were still prying the car apart to get to the last man in the car. He shook his head a little.

"We need to get going." The one EMT spoke up, the one who was examining the injuries on Pepper.

"I want to wait until I know Mr. Stark is out of the car." Pepper protested.

"Miss, You have injuries that require immediate attention. I assure you that your friend will be in the next ambulence and not far behind you." The EMT replied.

"I'll stay." Happy spoke up. Pepper looked to him and smiled a little bit.

"Sir, We are fairly certain you have a concussion, a doctor needs to look at you too." The second EMT protested.

"And they will, I'll just be on the second ambulence." Happy asserted as he slipped off the back of the ambulence and staggered over to the ambulence that was on the other side of the wreckage. The EMTs didn't follow him, and simply closed the door and left him to the other two EMTs that were working on getting Mr. Stark out.

This was the first time that Happy had gotten a good look at the surroundings. It was dark by this time, he didn't know what time it was but the moon was high in the sky and the night skies engulped the area surrounding. There was smoke coming from top of the hill, probably from the other car. There were at least two more ambulences there, four cop cars, and a fire truck. All their lights flickering and lighting up the area around.

As he made his way over to the ambulence a stretcher with his boss appeared from the car. He looked nearly unrecognizable. His hair disaray, a large gash on his face stretching from his hairline on the right side diagonally down across his nose to his jaw on the left side. He also had a deep gash on the left side of his throat, his right arm was clearly broken. The expensive suit he was wearing had been reduced to rags, as there were several cuts everywhere on him. Blood covered his once white shirt and there were a few dark marks on his pants and suit coat, assumed to be blood as well.

The EMTs wasted no time in placing a neck brace on him and loading him into the back of the second ambulence. Happy climbed in and they were off. The driver and one of Tony's closest friends next to Pepper and James Rhodes watched with sadness as they intubated his boss and put him on a ventilator. They tore the remainder of his shirt up and gapped at the arc reactor shining a blue light at them.

"It's an expensive pace maker." Happy told them, not knowing the full details surrounding it, aside from what Pepper had told him. That it was there to keep his heart safe. Happy knew there was more to it, but didn't pry. He was just the driver/bodyguard anyhow.

--

He saw the aftermath of the wreckage on the nightly news, smiling to himself. There was no way the great Tony Stark could survive that. The black bentley was crushed into an oblivion. He swung a fist upwards in victory. With the Ironman out of his way he could do whatever he pleased.

Just like he had thought, Ironman was nothing without his precious suit.

TBC - Tell me whatcha think please?


	2. What!

Authors' Note: This is gonna be an epically long thing I have come to realize... And warning to you all, though I think it may be a bit late for it, that I tend to be very violent to my favorite characters... coughTonycough

The reviews are awesome, I didn't expect that much to tell yea the truth. But the more positive reviews I get the more I am willing to intend to finish it. :)

--

Happy Hogan was the type of man who was proud of the fact that he had only been in the back of an ambulance twice in his entire life. The first time being when he was twelve and had fallen off the roof in some foolish attempt to act brave infront of his friends, and ended up breaking his left leg. The second time was that last boxing match he had, the one that forced him to retire, he was beaten to a bloody pulp. The other guy was also in a similar condition, and the match had been widdled down to who could stay standing long enough to claim the title of amature championship for that particular tournament.

This time though, he didn't really need to be in the ambulance. Aside from the fact that he had a concussion and whiplash he was more or less fine. What made this trip the worst by far then the previous two was the fact that the one person who gave him a job after being a boxer was fighting for his life infront of him. Happy had meet Tony just shortly after starting his career as a boxer. Tony had been a fan of his for reasons that were deluded from him, but none the less They got to know each other. So when the doctors said he should seriously consider a change in profession after that last match, Tony offered him a job as a bodyguard/driver for him. Of course the job itself was a downgrade from what he was, but Tony wasn't going to take no for an answer.

He watched in silence as the EMTs worked their way around Tony. One of them had removed the rest of Tony's shirt and suit with a pair of scissors and was examining the right arm. It was alot worse then Happy had originally thought. It seemed to be more or less severed in half. Blood was seeping out of both ends and it wasn't clear if any part of his arm was connected at all. There was only blood, everywhere. They placed several rags on it and pressed down to soak some of it up so they could get a better look. This action caused Tony to emit a muffled groan as his shoulders tensed, his face contorted in agony. He was awake.

--

A shot of pain awoke him from the murky darkness, bringing him back to the concious world just barely. He groaned, but found it muffled by tube that was snug between his teeth and stretching down his throat. He coughed and attempted to turn his head, but found the neck brace. He opened his eyes only to close them tightly again after being greeted with a bright white light.

"Mr. Stark?" An unknown voice spoke to him. He opened his eyes a little to see a shadowed face above his, blocking the light.

"We're almost there, okay?" The voice said, then the shadow moved away. He looked around his periphery, seeing as much as he could in his position. Tony figured it had to be an ambulance, and that was when he spotted Happy sitting on the bench beside him, trying helplessly to stay out of the way. He saw a red stain on his head and what looked like a few stitches on his forehead.

"Hey Boss." He said weakly as soon as turned his head towards Tony. He could do nothing but stare at his driver, until another blinding shot of pain shot through his left leg and he fell into the darkness again.

--

Pepper arrived at the hospital in an efficient manner, and was quickly turned over to one of the gurneys and set up in a room in the ER. One of the doctors was prodding at her ankle, and ordering an X-ray to be done as she kept her eye on the entrance doors, waiting for her boss and Happy to arrive in the other ambulance. It was taking far to long, and her nerves were nearly shot.

"Why aren't they here yet?!" She asked, looking to the doctor who had just returned with a wheelchair for her to get her an x-ray for her ankle.

"I just heard from the other nurses that they had gotten a radio from the ambulance saying they were going straight to the military base near by, under some orders that are confidential." The doctor replied. Pepper sighed, knowing at some point the military would step in, concerning the whole issue that the arc reactor in Tony's chest was a military secret, just didn't think it would be this quickly.

"I need to make a call." She told the doctor, taking her good foot and stopping the wheelchair herself.

"We need to get your injuries squared away first, Miss Potts. Then you can make your call." She wanted to shout at him at that moment, then decided against it with the headache she had going and the three bruised ribs she had acquired. She groaned and pulled her foot back up and let the doctor have his way.

--

The second ambulance halted infront of the gates. Happy looked out the back window and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, this wasn't the hospital. As soon as they moved through the gates once again, he realized they had not gone to the nearest hospital where Pepper was at, but to the military base that was about just as far but in a different direction. He didn't quite understand.

The back doors opened as the soldiers helped the EMTs unload Mr. Stark and move him into the building. Happy followed behind, as they rushed his boss into what looked like a military version of a trauma room.

"Why didn't we go to the hospital?" He asked one of the EMTs as they were heading back to their vehicle.

"As we relayed the information to the hospital that it was Mr. Stark, the military must of heard it and they interrupted us and told us to bring him here instead, said it was of military confidentiality." The EMT answered truthfully. Happy gave a silent 'oh' and let the EMT go on with his job.

--

"...We have just learned that billionaire Industrialist Tony Stark was one of the victims in the crash. His condition is unknown at this time." He listened to news report, sitting in a overly large red chair. He pulled a glass of red wine to his lips and sipped on it.

A buzzing could be heard near by, as he expertly reached for the small coffee table infront of him and flipped open the cell phone.

"Professor?" The male voice asked in a shaky tone.

"Aaron, I can assume you have good news for me?" He asked casually, his voice being masked and encrypted through the phone to the boy.

"Yes, Just calling to confirm the accident. Though there are some loose ends..." His young voice quivered just slightly.

"Loose ends?" The professor inquired.

"It seems They changed destinations for Mr. Stark. He wasn't taken to the same hospital as Miss Potts." His voice was revealing more fear as he went on, almost as if he were on the verge of tears.

"Aaron..." The professor used a warning tone.

"Not to worry, I saw Mr. Stark being pulled out, If he was still alive then, It didn't look like he'd survive the ambulance trip." Aaron was covering his ass now.

"Tony Stark is not to be underestimated, I want confirmation of his death. Figure out where they took him now." With that the professor hung up and groaned. The one problem with pawns were that they were sometimes rather slow on the uptake. He finished his wine in one last gulp and went to work in getting confirmation. He knew Aaron wasn't the brightest of the pack, and he needed someone who was good at hacking into computer systems.

--

"James?" She asked curiously. She was sitting in a plain hospital room now with a blue cast over her leg stretching from her foot to just below her knee.

"Hey Pepper." James Rhodes greeted her somberly.

"You must know where they took Tony?" She asked him quickly.

"Yes, Thats why I'm here, I came to get you to bring you over there." He replied, revealing a pair of crutchs and handing them over to her.

"How is he?" She asked in a worried tone.

"Not to good. He's in surgery right now." The Colonel replied quietly.

--

It had been late the next morning before anything new came through on Tony's condition. James, Happy, and Pepper all were sitting in the waiting room. Happy was sleeping in an ackward position in the chair. James was pacing the floor infront of the row of chairs, and Pepper had her head in her hands and the crutchs were sitting next to her. She was close to falling asleep now.

Then the surgeon finally appeared infront of them, in half scrubs and a white coat. He had the blank expression on his face as he approached the trio. James was the first to him, Pepper was second. She didn't bother with Happy, knowing he needed the sleep. She was a little unsteady on her feet as she hopped without the crutchs and gripped into James forearm to steady herself.

"It lists you as next of kin, Miss Potts." The surgeon addressed her, and only her. She nodded a little, half wondering when Tony did that.

"Mr. Stark has sustained alot of damage, and that was why the surgery took so long. He's not out of the woods yet, but it seems the worst may be over. He's in a medically induced coma right now, so his injuries can heal some before we wake him up." The doctor started to explain.

"The worst of the damage was to his right forearm. It had been cut in such a way that we couldn't re-attach it, meaning we were forced to remove his hand to his elbow o stop him from bleeding to death." Pepper sniffled at this, biting back a sob.

"His jaw is broken and his skull has been cracked near the right ear. There is a compound fracture in his right femur, and a stress fracture in the right tibia. Most of the damage centered on his right side, though there is significant bruising all over." He took a brief pause.

"I cannot guarantee that he will ever get back a hundred percent, and it will be a very long and strenuous recovery." She just wanted him to shut up right now, she couldn't take anymore.

"But he'll live, right?" James asked then. The doctor turned to him and nodded.

"Like I said before, he's not out of the woods yet, but the chances of him living are very good."

"Can I see him?" She asked, desperate to see his face.

"Sure." The doctor said. James was kind enough to grab her crutchs for her as the doctor led them down the hallway and opened the door with the number 312 on it. Pepper rushed into the room as fast as the crutchs would take her and stopped instantly as she saw him, covered in bandages, tubes, and wires. For what little skin was showing it was as pale as the bandages on him. There were at least three or four monitors surrounding him, monitoring his vitals.

"Oh my god."

TBC - Tell me whatcha think, please?


End file.
